Did You Know – Letters, Numbers and Such
The symbol # commonly called the Number Sign is called an octothorpe. The dot over the letter ‘i’ is called a tittle. The ampersand (&) is actually a stylized version of the Latin word “et,” meaning and. The only capital letter in the Roman alphabet with exactly one endpoint is P. The letters H I [...]
Died Before Their Time
Rudolph Valentino was one of the most popular stars of Silent Films in the 1920′s. When he died at the age of 31 in 1926, it is estimated that 100,000 people attended his funeral in New York. His image as the Latin Lover has lasted for decades. When Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean [...]
September 11
September 11, 2011 marks the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and on the Pentagon outside of DC. It is the first anniversary that will be on the same day of the week (Tuesday) as the attack. In total 2974 people were killed in the attack. September [...]
Big Trial in the Summer of ’25
It was the summer of 1925 and in Dayton, Tennessee a trial took place that helped shaped the American culture. The trial lasted 11 days and it was on July 10 of that year that the State of Tennessee began its case against school teacher John Scopes for teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution to his [...]
Lewis And Clark Expedition
Beginning in 1801 the United States began an effort to bring New Orleans, which had just changed hands from Spanish to French rule, into the United States. After nearly 2 years of negotiation the United States, who had been prepared to pay 10 Million dollars to the cash starved French discovered that the entire region [...]
The Flag of the United States
It was on June 14, 1777 that The Continental Congress passed The Flag Resolution. It reads; “Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a [...]
About Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) left $7 million in his 1867 incorporation papers and 1873 will for the foundation of a university and Hospital. The equivalent is over $131 million in the year 2006 dollars. The peculiar first name of Johns Hopkins came from the surname of his great-grandmother, Margaret Johns. [...]
USO
The United Service Organizations, the USO, was chartered on February 4, 1941. General George C Marshall suggested the idea in 1940. The armed forces were growing even before the US entered World War II and he felt that there was a need for recreation for on-leave members. The USO, Inc., was organized by representatives of [...]
Robert E. Lee and Lee-Jackson Day
January 19th is the anniversary of the birth of Robert E. Lee. Lee was born in 1807, the son of Henry “Light Horse Harry) Lee III, a general of the American Revolution. He was raised mostly by his mother since his father died in 1812 from a mob attack on him in Baltimore. Robert E. [...]
Did You Know? – Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin, who was born on January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6, 1705], once wrote, “If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.” He accomplished both. Franklin is best remembered as being from Philadelphia Pennsylvania. He was born [...]
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